Logic of Dennis Prager Equals Plus for Christian/Jewish Relationship!

Dennis Prager has written a piece explaining in a logical fashion why Jews (and liberals) should not be offended by Christians. The only problem with the article is that it does use logic which can be argued against by any illogical person. Most people like to come against logic with emotion which puts apples and oranges in the same basket and is then called fruit. (Something different from apples and oranges)

If there are any arguments against his hypothesis please start with where he errs in his logic and go from there. Rants about personal experiences will only show that all people are human, not that Dennis's article is wrong.

Some Highlights:

Evangelical Christians believe it is necessary for a person to believe in Jesus Christ in order to be saved.
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(prying1 sez: I would add the word "most" to this statement as there are some Christians that leave a bit of leeway on who gets in. He does touch on this in the article.)
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According to every liberal I know – Christian, Jew or other – Jews are supposed to find this theology offensive and frightening. According to liberals, the evangelicals' doctrine that no non-Christians can be saved is so awful that all other evangelical views must be held suspect – even their unique support for Jews and Israel.

I would therefore like to announce, as a practicing, believing Jew, that I am in no way offended, let alone frightened, by evangelical Christians who believe that it is necessary to have faith in Jesus in order to be saved.

Why should Jews not be offended by this evangelical Christian belief?

First, since all non-Christians are unsaved, this doctrine is in no way anti-Jewish. It is pro-salvation, not anti-anybody. The evangelical view of who is not saved is applicable, by definition, to all non-Christians. There is, therefore, no reason whatsoever for a Jew to be personally offended. It is no more applicable to Jews than to Hindus. When most evangelicals single out Jews, it is only to support them and Israel, and to reaffirm Jewish chosenness. It takes paranoia, ignorance and ingratitude for a Jew to join the anti-evangelical critics.
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Third, all those who condemn evangelicals for their belief in the necessity of affirming Christ for salvation are doing exactly what they accuse these Christians of doing – judging and condemning people solely for their beliefs. Here is the liberals' rule: Christians may not judge others by their religious beliefs, but liberals may judge Christians by their religious beliefs.
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Fourth, one of Judaism's core teachings is that God judges all people by their behavior rather than by their faith alone, and that we are to judge people in the same way. I apply this teaching to evangelicals. I judge them not by their theology but by their behavior. I find that behavior often exemplary, and I regard them as America's best hope to stem the country's cultural and moral decline.

My Remembrance of Pope John Paul ll

The Pope is nearing the time of crossing over. Indeed as I type this he may have reached the other side. I felt it in my heart to share a bit of my feelings/thoughts concerning this point in history. Trust me on this. No disrespect is meant on this post. I was raised Catholic but left the fold in my 20's for a more non-denominational type church.

One thing that really impressed me about Pope John Paul was a bit I read in a book by Terry Law, The Power of Praise and Worship I think. It has been a while and I can't find the book right now. I do remember the bit Terry wrote about being in a church in communist Warsaw, Poland and after a concert of praise and worship a local Catholic priest invited the group to his abode. They spent the majority of the night praising and worshiping God, the priest joining in with his voice and guitar. At a later date and prior to the publication of this book the priest was elected to be Pope.

It seems the time is nearing that this same priest will be adding his voice to the heavenly crowd of worshippers.

The other remembrance that immediately comes to mind is when the pope came to visit L.A. California.

Leave it to Los Angelinos to make a buck no matter the weighty business involved. A news article in the L.A Times (LAT) told of a man selling standup cutouts of the pope that were designed to be set up on front lawns. A garden hose was to be connected to it and water would come from the cutouts hands raised in benediction. The words, "Let us Spray!" completed the image of the popes concern over the care of your lawn.

Only in America!

Email Humor

Often time I get forwarded emails from someone I know and if I do not forward them in in a timely fashion, 2-3 days later I get the same email from someone else. I always wonder what route it take from my uncle in CA to an eBay friend in NJ. This one came from my uncle. I thought a bit of humor might be good right now... (Wonder how long for Nancy to send it to me if she does decide to forward it...)
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Subject: The wrong e-mail address


A couple from New York decided to go to Southern California to thaw out during one particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the very same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.

Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left NYC and flew to L.A. on Sunday, and his wife flew out the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an e-mail to his wife. However, he inadvertently left out one letter as he was typing in her e-mail address, and, without realizing his error, sent the note.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a minister of many years who passed away following a sudden heart attack. The widow decided to check her e-mail, expecting messages of condolence from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she fainted. The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:


To: My Loving Wife Subject: I've Arrived Date: June 20, 2005

I know you're surprised to hear from me. This is quite the place. They have computers here, hooked up to the internet, and you are allowed to send e-mails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P.S. Sure is hot down here.

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I know this is not the best joke on the internet. but you must admit it is rather humorious.

When I received this email it had the little arrow thingies (You know. The elbows!) at the start of each line.
Great way to get rid of them for archiving your favorite jokes or cleaning them up for forwarding: http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm (Psst. John... It's FREE!)

Terri Schiavo Crosses the Great Divide

May she rest in Peace. May her family find comfort. May the Living God touch all concerned on both sides of the issue deciding her early passing.

Hillary Searches for Schiavo Truth

At least I think that is where she has been. Perhaps she is out on golf courses asking OJ how to find the truth. Could she be in Hollywood asking the stars? At the UN seeking advice from Kofi? One thing I do know is she has been mighty quiet on the subject of Terri Schiavo so I guess she has no opinion. That is what we need in a presidential candidate. Decisiveness.

Will someone tell me why they think Hillary Rodham Clinton Rodham is a good pick for the presidency for 2008? - One of the biggest controversies of the year and she keeps her mouth shut. Even her husband, Bill Clinton, has spoken up on it. A controversy that transcends party lines and she won't tell us what to do, how to fix it...

The Queen of Cattlegate normally is very up front about what she believes. NewsMax.com reminds us that during the health care debacle of 1993 Hillary said: "I think there should be a discussion in this country about what is appropriate care ... With more thought and more concern about both the human and the economic cost,"

Hillary Knows all about economics. After all, she lost money on Whitewater and has some of the papers (They're around here someplace or did those get shredded too?) to prove it.

She also said, ""If we do this health care reform right [we can] create the kind of security we're talking about so that people will know that they're not being denied treatment for any reason other than it is not appropriate, it will not enhance or save the quality of life."

Did she mention back in 1993 who decides on the definition of 'quality of life'? Oh well, It doesn't matter because I'm sure she and her friends will not mind being treated like Terri Schiavo if it is for the greater good.

We know that Hillary really cares about life because she did not kill Bill when she first learned about Monica Lewinski. Speaking of Hillary first learning about Monica, Time.com has a poll (at the time of this posting anyway) that asks, "Do you believe Hillary Rodham Clinton's account of when she first learned of her husband's affair with Monica Lewinsky? - Yes 46.8% / No 52.9% - Wonder if that is the same numbers we would see if the Deathocrats really decide to let her run.

Personally I think the Deathocrats ought to really put her on the ticket. Her shrillness needs to be seen by all of America to show us what depths the Deathocratic party has fallen too. And then too we can watch her squirm when the question is put to her, "Should the judicial system put all people like Terri to sleep?"

The good Samaritan goes to jail

Townhall.com columnist Terence Jeffrey has an article comparing the Good Samaritan to the Terri Schiavo situation -
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The Gospel only says the Samaritan was the traveler's good neighbor and that Jesus told the Samaritan's story to teach a so-called "expert in the law" just what it means to be a good neighbor.

Apparently, the wounded traveler's precise clinical condition and prognosis were not important factors in determining what simple human decency demanded of the traveler's neighbors.

Now who are Terri Schiavo's good neighbors?

prying1 sez:
Please don't think that when Terri dies the story will end. Many believe the judges now consider themselves to be above Congress and the President. The branches are supposed to be co-equal and our government is designed to reign in any branch that gets out of control. Clearly the Judicial Branch now feels they can demand murder with impunity and no control by the other branches of the government. Terri's clinging to life has opened the eyes of many from the left who do not want to be associated with the party of death.

Some Stars Favor Life for Terri Schiavo

- 13 Days - Court Agrees to Consider Review of Schiavo Case - According to ABC News:

Twelve days after Schiavo's feeding tube was removed under a state court order, parents Bob and Mary Schindler had apparently exhausted all their judicial options in the bitter family dispute that has escalated into a highly politicized national drama.

But late on Tuesday, lawyers for the Schindlers requested a rehearing of their appeal at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. A three-judge panel there last week rejected the appeal against a lower court's rebuff.

A spokesman for the Atlanta court, Matt Davidson, said the court had agreed to consider the Schindlers' request for a rehearing by all 12 judges. The documents in the case were forwarded to the judges overnight.

The judges did not indicate when they might decide to rehear the case or not, he said.

Doctors have said that Schiavo, 41, would likely live up to two weeks after removal of the feeding tube, and family members have said she is weakening so there was little time left for any court intervention.

Also some TV and music stars have come out in support of Terri as has Jesse Jackson.

NewsMax reports Bill Clinton (Who always knows which way the wind is blowing) is now in favor of the Schindler family. Terri's story certainly is making strange bedfellows.

It is getting down to the wire for Terri. I'm praying the Lord will sustain her. I'm also expecting the usual gabble about quality of life and how she is damaged goods, must be thrown away, I wouldn't want to live that way (as if anyone would prefer it).

Here it is for the naysayers. (Most) Christians believe that the breath of life was given by God and is to be respected and protected until the final one taken by each of us.

Kofi Annan Not Quitting U.N.

Guess my previous post suggesting Annan might be quitting was a bit premature. The report comes out and 'clears' him of wrong doing in the Oil For Food program
From Reuters:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A key report concluded on Tuesday that Secretary-General Kofi Annan did not influence contract decisions for a firm that employed his son but it faulted the U.N. chief for conducting a superficial probe of the controversy.

"Hell no!" Annan told a news conference when asked if he would resign, as some lawmakers in the United States, had demanded.

"After so many distressing and untrue allegations have been made against me, this exoneration by the independent inquiry obviously comes as a great relief," Annan said.
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Kojo Annan, 31, and living in Nigeria, issued a statement through his lawyers, saying "I have always maintained that neither myself nor my father exercised any undue influence in the awarding of the U.N. oil-for-food contract to Cotecna."

The younger Annan was a trainee with Cotecna from late 1995 until the end of 1998, about the time the firm received the U.N. contract for inspecting goods in Iraq.

He did not immediately reveal that he continued to earn $2,500 a month from 1999 until February 2004 in return for not joining Cotecna competitors in West Africa. The report also raises questions about Kojo Annan's one-time plans to do business in Iraq with Franco-Lebanese Pierre Mouselli, who at one time lived in Nigeria..

prying1 sez -
So much for improvements in the staffing of the UN. Wonder if they could move the U.N. building down and all its inhabitants down to Cuba. It is taking up valuable property that could be put to better uses.

Like a landfill.

Update: Question is asked by Rush Limbaugh as to why Billions are stolen through this program and everyone wants to focus on $400,000? Good Question!

Link Meandering Comes to a Nice End.

Started at Radioblogger and lost track of time. Followed Duane's link to Free Republic and had to go see the source of all the hubbub. The News-Record, A North Carolina Newspaper that has set several employees up as bloggers.

Well, now I must give a hat tip to Lex Alexander at The Lex Files of the News-Record for this one. First I must say that Lex Alexander is doing a good job and I believe his blog is an asset to the planet. Now Lex has posted about this great deal. - An online course "designed to help "grassroots" journalists, bloggers, students and other Web publishers without formal journalism training to write more accurate and informative content." - For a price even Scotwise will love. FREE!

OJR introduces new wikis on journalism - Ethics, Reporting and Writing are covered. Links to other resources are included and looks to be chock full of good advice, common sense and the ability to grow with (registered) reader participation. I would suggest beginning bloggers run through the site and learn a bit. Longtime bloggers may want to share some of their expertise or a link to a helpful site. - Enjoy!

Kofi Annan to Resign UN Leadership Post?

Looks like the fire under the pan is getting too hot for Mr. Kofi Annan, the current U.N.leader. New report to be released on Tuesday revealing he had three undisclosed meetings with the company, Cotecna, before and after the U.N. Oil for Food contract was given to them. Kofi's son, Koji, had received $300,000 to $4,000,000 from the company apparently after he quit working for them but before the $60 million was awarded.

Times Online U.K.> has this: Mark Malloch Brown, Annan’s British chief-of-staff, said the meetings were brief and had nothing to do with Cotecna’s contract. If some of the allegations against Kojo were confirmed, that would create “a very different situation, but for Kojo — not the secretary-general”.

Kojo and Cotecna insist he had no part in securing the oil for food contract and that his work related to activities in Nigeria and Ghana.

New scandals continue to erupt, however. One revelation last week was that the UN had agreed to pay legal fees for Benon Sevan, the disgraced head of the oil for food programme, out of the funds raised from the Iraqi oil sales.

“Kofi Annan is going to find his position increasingly untenable,” said Nile Gardiner, an expert on the UN at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “There is a strong possibility he will resign voluntarily because of his declining credibility.”
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WorldNetDaily has this: U.N. staffers report that Annan is severely depressed over the oil-for-food investigation and the scandals involving sexual abuse of civilians by U.N. peacekeepers. One observer describes his moods as being like a "sine curve," and he is currently near its bottom.

A U.N. staff member tells The Australian: "Kofi is going to have a rough time. For how long will depend on what Volcker has got. But it's not going to be easy for him."

"Kofi may be placed in a situation where he has to consider all his options," confides another U.N. official. "That includes resignation. You won't find many people who would want that outcome, but events may unfold in a way that makes it a real possibility."

prying1 sez:
Well this is certainly something to pray about. If the U.N. gets a new leader could it be cleaned up enough to make it a worthwhile organisation? The problem is the crooks and child molesters that are left behind will be fighting tooth and nail to keep control from any honest and upright people. Same thing as is happening in Iraq.
It certainly is worth trying to save the shell of the U.N. but the inside must be gutted...

Continue in Prayer!

I have found that since Terri Schiavo's situation re-hit the news and I have been blogging on it I have increased my prayer time - Praying for Terri, her parents and family. Praying the judge would not starve and dehydrate her. Praying her husband would give up custody etc. Praying the congress attempt would be successful. Praying something could be done through the law so that our government could/would not be accused of committing murder...
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This is my prayer now. I pray that others that have enjoined in prayer at this time do not decrease the amount of time they pray if and when Terri expires. I pray that they direct the extended prayer time to lifting up before the throne of God the family, friends and neighbors that they personally know are in need of God's attention. I pray that they spend time getting to know the mind of God as opposed to just ordering him around with directives. I pray that they also earnestly lift up Judge Greer and Michael Schiavo and pray God's protection over them.
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The last line might be hard for some of us to swallow. I know it is for me. I am working real hard to make sure a root of bitterness does not grow in my heart. The best way I know is to pray God's mercy, grace, and loving kindness upon them. This is perhaps the toughest thing God has commanded us to do. Pray for your enemies, Pray for those who despitefully use you. By doing so we prevent ugliness in our hearts from destroying our relationship with God.
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I'm certainly glad that, except for a few incidents, most of the people that really care from both sides of the debate have conducted themselves in a legal manner.

The law in this country is important and for those that wanted the FL Governor and the President to break the law to save Terri did not fully think through the results had either of them done so. Had they chosen to travel that road the ultimate end result could well be anarchy.

On the Lighter Side

my uncle sent this email to me and I'm sure many have seen it. It has made the rounds - However I once read in a joke book that every good joke should come around every 20 years. The new generation has to hear it to carry it on to their progeny...

Interpreting Employment Ads

"Competitive Salary"
- We remain competitive by paying less than our competitors.

"Join Our Fast Paced Company"
- We have no time to train you.

"Casual Work Atmosphere"
- We don't pay enough to expect that you will dress up.

"Must be Deadline Oriented"
- You will be six months behind schedule on your first day.

"Some Overtime Required"
- Some time each night, some time each weekend.

"Duties will Vary"
- Anyone in the office can boss you around.

"Must have an Eye for Detail"
- We have no quality control.

"Seeking Candidates with a Wide Variety of Experience"
- You will need to replace three people who just left.

"Problem Solving Skills a Must"
- You are walking into a company in perpetual chaos.
Haven't heard a word from anyone out there.
Your first task is to find out what is going on.